


Touchy-Feely

by hungrybookworm



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hugging, different cultures, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-08 05:02:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1927605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hungrybookworm/pseuds/hungrybookworm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renko asks Maribel why she's so hands on, and gets a surprising answer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Touchy-Feely

**Author's Note:**

> Touhou Project (c) ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice
> 
> I think this is the first Touhou thing I've written without Reimu or Marisa in it...

Renko chose her words carefully. She placed her lukewarm teacup back in its saucer, and stared straight at her companion. “Merry, can I ask you something?”

Maribel Hearn raised her eyebrows. “What is it?”

“Well...” Renko had been meaning to ask this for a while. She twiddled her thumbs. “I’ve been wondering, you see. Um... why are you so... touchy-feely with me?”

“Touchy-feely?”

“Don’t get the wrong idea!” Renko waved her hand quickly. “I don’t hate it. I’m just curious. That’s all.”

It started a few weeks after they first met. Maribel would pat Renko’s arm when things didn’t go as planned, rub her shoulders whenever she complained about exam stress, lean forward and sort out her hair parting if it looked wonky... They were fleeting, sudden touches, and at first Renko hated them. She assumed it was cultural: Maribel wasn’t Japanese, and probably thought it was normal. Renko assumed she would stop after a while. 

But as time passed Renko found herself not minding it, liking it even. Once or twice she even took the initiative, grabbing Maribel’s hand during club activities and pulling her along, smiling like an idiot the whole way.

“Hmm.” Maribel frowned. It was the same expression she wore when she saw a particularly hard kanji compound, and Renko worried for a moment that ‘touchy-feely’ was beyond her vocabulary. “By ‘touchy-feely’, do you mean this?”

She put down her teaspoon, and placed her hand over Renko’s. She squeezed it.

“Yeah, that.” Renko smiled, and quickly glanced away. She was glad the cafe was mostly empty. “I’m guessing it’s normal where you’re from, right?”

Maribel didn’t say anything. Then she grimaced slightly, and moved her hand away. “It’s not really normal. Maybe if I was American...”

“Ah.”

“It’s just embarrassing to say.” She sighed, and picked up her teaspoon again. “I’ll tell you later, when we get home.”

Of course, after that Renko couldn’t concentrate. She shuffled her feet under the table, impatient for an answer. Finally Maribel finished her slice of cake, and they stood up to leave. It was darker than usual outside, thick clouds threatening the city with rain. Renko swung her umbrella like a pendulum, and it didn’t start pouring until they were safely under the bus shelter.

The journey felt longer and more rickety than usual, and by the time they finally arrived back at Maribel’s studio flat Renko thought she was going to explode. As soon as the door was closed and Maribel’s shoes were tucked away, Renko grabbed her arm and asked: “Well? Why are you so touchy-feely?”

Maribel laughed. Renko wondered if she’d been made a fool of. “Sorry Renko, you just looked so funny there.” She reached out and took Renko’s hat off. “I would have told you in the cafe if I’d known it was bothering you that much.”

Renko’s cheeks went red. “I’m not bothered.”

Maribel tossed the hat onto the sofa. Then, before Renko realised what she was doing, Maribel leant forward and hugged her.

“M-Merry!”

“I’m touchy-feely because I want to make sure you’re real.” Maribel whispered into her ear. “That’s all. Sorry it’s nothing big.”

“No, don’t be sorry!” Renko hugged her back. “Of course I’m real, you idiot. I’m a living breathing human being.”

“I know,” she said. “I just wonder, sometimes. You know.”

“You’re so silly sometimes, Merry.” Renko sighed. “And even if I was just a part of your dreams, we’re working on making those real, aren’t we?” She pulled away, her hands still gripping her shoulders. “So I’ll be real no matter what happens!”

Maribel looked relieved. “Renko...”

The rain tapped against the window pane.

“Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> November 2014 Notes: Over the last three weeks this fic has gained around 500 hits. How crazy is that! Thank you so much everyone! But I can’t work out where all these new hits are coming from. If any of you kind readers are feeling generous and want to tell me how you stumbled across this fic, please [send me an ask via tumblr and let me know.](http://hungry0bookworm.tumblr.com/ask) I have anon turned on so don’t hold back!
> 
> このSSは、三週間に閲覧数５００以上を受け頂きました。すごくびっくり！有難うございますｍ（＿＿）ｍ　しかし新しい読者がどこから来ているのはまだ分かりません…　知っているなら、[うちのtumblrでメッセージに言ってください！](http://hungry0bookworm.tumblr.com/ask)お世話になります～（変な日本語すみません…）


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